Improvement in casting car-wheels



G. NEEDHAM.

CASTING OAR WHEELS.

110.110,7'79. Patented Jan. 3, 1871.

tanni eine.

CHANDLER NEEDHAM, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 110,779, dated January 3, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT lN CASTING CAR-WHEELS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all! whom 'it lmay concern:

Be it known that I, CHANDLER NnnDHAM, of the city and count-y of \Vorce'stcr and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have made certa-in new and useful Ini-v provements in \Vheels for Railroad-Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, in which- Fignre l represents a View of the outer side of my improved cnr-wheel;

Figure 2 represents a view of the ingot from which the tire or reinforce is made;

Figure 3 represents a central section of the ingot and forming-anvil.

Figure 4 represents, upon a larger scale, a transverse section of the rini of my improved wheel.

11`ignre 5 represents a similarI section of the rim of a wheel as heretofore constructed by the useA of a welding-flux, and upon which mine is an improvement.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my inventiou belongs to make and use the same, I will proceed to describe it more in det-nil.

My invention relates to the mode of constructing metallic car-wheels, as hereinafter more fully explained. g

`My improved wheel for railroznl-cars is made as follows:

A suitable quantity of east-steel to form the reinforce or tire of the whccl is east into an annular in-` got, A, (see tig. 2,) about iilteen inches in dia-meter, with an opening at its center about four inches in diaineter.

This ingot A is thoroughly hammered by means of a stcznn-hunnncr upon an anvil, B, which is provided with a suitable horn, G, to set into the openingat the center of the ingoi', so that it cnn he hammered around all sides.

After its diameter has been extended, by means of the hammer, to about eighteen inches, it is subjected to the action of forming rolls, which enlarge it to the proper size and shape to form the tire D of the wheel.

'lhe tire D is then placed in a heating-furnace and heated to a bright cherry-red, when it is taken from the furnace, and any adhering foreign substance rcmoved i'rom its inner surface, after which it is placed within the mold, in which the body E 'of the wheel is to be cast, saidmold having been previously formed and prepared for its reception.

After the heated tire D has been properly adjusted within the mold, the flask is c1osed,-and the moltcn-iron is immediately poured in, which, as it comes in contact with the highly-heated steel, fuses the surface of the latter, thereby forming a perfect union between the two, and, as the metal cools, the body E and tire D are welded-into one solid mass.

The molten-iron is -ir'itroduced to the mold through i a series of openings at the rim of. the wheel,'so that n it enters just at the inside of the tire D, and from thence tiows to the center, whereby all dirt and dust are carried away from the tire 1), which might otherwise be carried against the surface of, the steel, and thereby prevent the perfect weldingl of the parts.

The molten iron, entering the molde-t the Arim of r thc wheel, also keeps the tire D in ahighly-heated state until the mold is filled, thus tending to insure greater cohesion of the steel and iron.

lhe body of the wheel, instead of being formed as shown, may be made with spokes when desired.

By reference to g. 5 of the drawing, which representsa sectiouof awheel as heretofore constructed, ac-

cording to the process patented to Zadoc Washburn,

November 30, 1869, it will be observed that the castiron, instead of lying still and forming a perfec-tweld or union with the steel, is agitated and caused to bubble by the gas generated by the molten iron as it comes in contact with the iux used iu said YVashbnrns process, whereby thc perfect and desired union of the iron and steel is prevented, and, consequently, animperfect and defective wheel is produced, the castiron being more or less Iilled with bubble-holes, while no suitable union is effected with the steel.

Having described myrimprovcd railroad-car wheel, I hereby disclaim the invention for which Letters Patent were granted to Zadoc \Vashburn, November 30, 1869; but` That I do claim therein as new and ofv my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

lhe process orinode above described, for making a combined cast-steel and cast-iron car-wheel, where- ,by the molten cast-iron is introduced through aseries of holes into the mold directly upon the inner untluxed surface of the cast-steel tire, and a .perfect union and weld cf the metalsare produced, as stated. 'CHANDLER NEEDHAM.

Witnesses l,

'.LHos. H'. Denen, Gno. H, MlLLnn. 

